Love is what makes a family
by nellaclaire
Summary: One of the kids comes home from school very upset one day and it's Frank's job to make sure they're ok.


**Hey guys!  
** **I haven't written anything in forever, but after rewatching the movie I used to love as a kid, I had this idea stuck in my head. So I figured letting it out of my system would be a good way of getting back to writing.**

 **So here it is, just a pointless, but hopefully cute one-shot about a father-son bond that is starting to grow.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

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It was a nice warm Friday afternoon in the middle of September. Frank was enjoying one of almost unheard-of moments of complete peace and silence. He got off work unusually early and somehow none of the eighteen kids he had were home by then. Some of them were still at school, but those who finished sooner were busy enjoying the start of one of the last warm weekends before fall actually happened. Helen was away at some business meeting and Mrs. Munion had a day off.

Frank made himself a nice big cup of coffee and sat down on the couch to finally watch that documentary movie he had been trying to see for weeks now. After all it's not that easy to find time to relax when you have eighteen crazy kids running around like wild animals and your job is to make sure they don't kill each other or themselves.

Just as Frank was really starting to relax he heard someone open the front door then furiously slam it, followed by quick and heavy footsteps up the stairs. Frank liked to think of himself as a responsible father, therefore as much as he would have liked to ignore whichever child of his that was and get back to watching the movie, he knew he should probably check on said child and figure out what has gotten them so mad. After he heard the door of one of the rooms upstairs slam, he sighed and stood up from the couch. He walked by the front door and noticed a school backpack carelessly thrown onto the floor. Frank recognized the bag as Jimi's, what at least answered his question as of whose temper he would be dealing with.

He went upstairs and knocked on his son's door. Although Frank didn't hear an invitation, he entered anyway and instantly noticed the fourteen year old lying on his bed face down, his shoulders shaking.

'Jimi? Is something wrong?' asked Frank and internally berated himself. What a stupid question to ask, of course something was wrong. Jimi wasn't a dramatic child like for instance Christina or Joni, therefore this kind of behavior coming from the boy wasn't a regular occurrence in the Beardsley household.

'I'm fine' mumbled Jimi and moved further away from his father.

'I know you're not, I can see you're upset so just tell me what happened' insisted Frank and sat down on the bed next to his son's lying form 'Sit up son'

'Just leave me alone, I wanna be alone' Jimi's face was still buried in his pillow.

'Jimi' said Frank in a warning tone he used to let his children know he wasn't joking. Once again it worked and his son eventually sat up, his tear-stained face becoming evident and causing Frank to freak out with worry a little bit. He had to quickly compose himself in order to be able to help his child.

'Tell me what happened' demanded Frank in a soft yet firm voice that left no room for arguments.

'It's nothing, really. It's stupid, don't worry about it' mumbled Jimi avoiding eye contact.

'It has to be something otherwise it wouldn't have upset you that much. And of course I'm gonna worry when I see one of my kids cry' those words were meant to comfort the fourteen year old, but somehow they made him cry again, fresh tears escaping from his eyes 'Please Jimi, tell me what's going on'

'…Okay' whispered the boy 'We… we have this new biology teacher... She just transferred to our school so she doesn't know us yet… We started learning genetics' that gave Frank an idea of what the problem might have been 'and today she gave us an assignment' continued Jimi after sniffling a couple of times and wiping his wet cheeks with his sleeve 'she wants us to make projects about physical features that we inherited from our ancestors and that have been passed on for generations. And then we're supposed to estimate the probability of us passing those features onto our children. And I can't do that for obvious reasons, but the teacher couldn't have known that, cause she doesn't know our family so I shouldn't have gotten so upset but I did' Jimi started rambling and each sentence came out squeakier than the last one which was a clear sign that he was getting himself all worked-up again.

'Jim… Jimi look at me' said Frank lifting his son's chin to meet his eyes 'You had every right to get upset-'

'No I didn't' interrupted the boy 'Because that makes me sound as if I'm not happy with being a part of this family. And I am happy and so grateful'

'I know that. Listen to me, you are my child. Just as much as all seventeen of your siblings. The fact that we are not biologically related means nothing to me, because you couldn't be any more of my son even if we were. The only thing I regret is that I didn't get to meet you sooner. But I'm still so happy to call you my kid and to have you in my life' both the father and the son started to get a little teary eyed for an entirely new reason.

'Thank you, dad. Thank you for putting up with all the crazy that is our family' Jimi's words made Frank chuckle.

'I wouldn't have it any other way, kid' he opened his arms and the teenager didn't hesitate to hug his dad, pouring all the love and gratefulness into the embrace 'Tomorrow I'll go to the school to talk to your teacher. I'll explain our situation to her and make sure she finds another assignment for you'

'Thanks' said Jimi wiping his eyes one last time.

'Don't worry about it. Just remember that you can always come to me with any problem. Doesn't matter how unimportant it seems to you. I'm here. I love you, son'

'I love you too dad'

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 **Let me know what you think!**


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